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Chapter 3 Why Choir?
In considering choral singing for positive change on a societal level in South Africa, the following questions merit inquiry: 1. To what extent is choral singing an authentic and significant cultural practice in this country? 2. What, if any, are the inherent characteristics and additional benefits of singing that validate this practice as an appropriate activity to promote individual and societal wellbeing? 3. How does the practice of choir singing relate and apply to factors encumbering transformation in a country typified by considerable racial and cultural diversity? Evidence of the beneficial nature of music, and more specifically choir participation, is examined.
An opportunity to study the experiences of members participating in a choir exemplified by vast diversities in culture, language and age presents itself in a cross-national Theatre in Development project, the Winter-Summer Institute (WSI). This chapter concludes with the findings of a 2008 survey that probed for indicators for choir participation as a vehicle to facilitate social and cultural bridging as well as teambuilding.
Eminence of choral singing in South Africa
Loots told me that he had come to believe that the saying “The three s’s of the people” , which refers to soccer, sex and singing, is a common idiom in the language of the people (Hugo 2007).
African music and dance has survived “as long as we can remember the existence of humankind” (Egbo et al s.a.). Dating back thousands of years, the music tradition in Southern Africa has always existed as an integral component of rituals such as birth, weddings, ancestral worship, initiation ceremonies and death – indeed, the people of this region “do not do anything without the accompaniment of song” (Ntaka 2003:2). In South Africa, unlike most other areas of sub-Saharan Africa, dance is usually accompanied by choral singing (MHSchool 2006). African music involves “the complete human being interacting with others of his group” (Sadie 2001:76). Levine (2005:21) notes that, in societies where a group dynamic permeates the culture, choral singing is a characterising element of the music. Considering the weight of group solidarity in Ubuntu, as underpinning philosophy of African identity, it is understandable that choral singing “is the most important musical feature of the black South African way of life” (Smith 1996).
South African ethnic groups are classified into four collective language groups namely the Nguni, Sotho, Venda and Shangaan Tsonga (Plaschke and Zirngibl 1992:20). The Nguni – encompassing IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, Seswati and IsiZulu speakers – have been actively involved in musicking since before the first foreign invasion of South Africa. The Sesotho group includes Southern Sesotho, Northern Sotho (Sepedi) and Setswana speakers: they have an equally lengthy history regarding music-making as an integral part of everyday life.
Choral singing is a customary practice in the Venda and Tsonga cultures. Blacking (2000:55) noted that music is a characteristic of almost every feature in Venda culture. It plays out in songs about animals, foods, emotions, greetings and departures, and songs that are associated with places, people and different jobs. In all of the four linguistic groups, it is customary that the community participates together in expression through singing at events like weddings, births, funerals and political marches. S ome of the most moving of recent South African choral music grew out of political resistance and freedom songs (Smith 1996).
Choral singing is also prevalent amongst both English and Afrikaans Whites, as is evident in the many school, youth, university, church and amateur choirs in these communities. The vast majority of the previously white choirs have welcomed members from other cultural backgrounds into their choirs.
An additional, vibrant choral tradition and regular feature in the AICF is found in the cultural choirs of the Cape Malay. This choral practice originated when the Malaysian slaves were brought to the Cape by the Dutch colonisers. Physically and culturally isolated, the slaves sang songs “conceived in bondage” and passed them on from generation to generation (Kamaldien 2002:3). Written in a mixture of Indonesian and Dutch, the songs were created for ‘get-together time’ like camping at the kramat (burial ground for a Muslim religious leader in Faure), weddings and funerals. Popular song types include the comic “moppie – a combined chorus”, and the Nederlandse lied . The Nederlandse liede were the songs of the slaves, sung to keep them happy while they had to do hard labour (Kamaldien 2007:13). During Apartheid times, when political meetings were disbanded in the Cape Malay communities, choirs sang songs that made fun of the government – “That was our way to be outspoken” (Kamaldien 2002:3).
With exception of the Indian communities, choral singing is a customary practice in all the language and cultural groupings in South Africa and “the most important musical aspect in the country” (Barrett 2007:27). Smith (1996) agrees: “On the whole the general choral scene in South Africa is a lively and ever-improving one”.
The wide-ranging appeal of this musicking practice across cultural boundaries validates the use of choral singing for broader societal wellbeing in South Africa.
Singing: reasons and outcomes
Human beings are designed and equipped for singing. Chapman notes that there exists no record of a human society without song (Davis and Chapman 1998:9). Davis (Davis and Chapman 1998:9) observes that even the most primitive cultures found in the most remote parts of the world “make particular kinds of sung sound when emotional”. She expounds: “for other primates (such as the chimpanzee) vocal sounds are always emotional and can rarely be inhibited”. Humans, on the other hand, can voluntarily control their breathing (within the limits set by the brain), inhibit emotional expression and recreate emotional experiences from memory. Such voluntary control skills are significant for singing and are “not seen in any other species”.
Janice Chapman, Australian born singer, teacher and vocal consultant and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia, who helped establish the multidisciplinary approach to the understanding, use and care of the voice in the United Kingdom, believes that human beings sing to communicate (Chapman 2006:17). Davis and Chapman (1998:9) perceive that singing usually appears when people come together for rituals – religious hymns, chants, emotional battle songs or sorrowful wailing, and also in group activities such as marching songs. Other reasons for singing are illustrated in the use of hymns for promoting a spiritual atmosphere, political songs for conveying subjective messages, chanting or lullabies for inducing certain states, or functional songs for achieving utilitarian outcomes as used in teaching. Singing is an act of musicking practiced by people everywhere, at all times, and in a wide range of contexts. People sing about the birth of a child and the loss of a loved one. Children and adults, young and old, male and female, sing when they are happy and when they are sad. In fact, singing might be more widespread than love (Weinberger 1996:1). People sing because they can. The singing of those who claim an inability to sing often stems from inhibitions taught through education, peer pressure and the perceptions of others. Chapman (2006:264) summarises: “Singing is not a cultural additive. It is a birthright which we are in danger of losing or devaluing”.
Singing holds numerous and wide-ranging benefits for the singer. Many claims of the improvements of physical, emotional and social wellbeing exist in anecdotal records and research literature. These include: singing stimulates the production of antibodies, thus lowering the likelihood of upper respiratory track infection, increasing lung function and breathing (Fanthome 2006). Singing makes you feel energised and uplifted as it releases endorphins into the singer’s system. It brings about positive mood changes and boosts the immune system (Kreutz et al 2004). Singing produces relaxation and stress relief, increases stamina and wields a remedial influence on factors that are potentially harmful to wellbeing and health (Clift et al 2007).
Abstract
1. Orientation to the study
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Personal motivation for the study: a reflection
1.3 Research questions
1.4 Aim of the study
1.5 Research design
1.5.1 The opportunity
1.5.2 Relevant knowledge
1.5.3 Observing and analysing data
1.5.4 Evaluating
1.5.5 Evidence
1.5.6 Limitations and delimitations of the study
1.5.7 Value of the study
1.6 Research methodology
1.6.1 Research methods used
1.6.2 Collecting the data
1.6.3 Sampling
1.6.4 Interventions
1.6.5 Interviews
1.7 Further chapters
1.8 Notes to the Reader
2. Literature review
2.1 Transformation
2.1.1 What is “transformation”?
2.1.2 Transformation in a South African context
2.1.3 Change theories
2.1.4 Culture
2.2 Ubuntu
2.2.1 Ubuntu defined
2.2.2 Ubuntu and opportunities for informal interaction
2.2.3 Ubuntu and the workplace
2.2.4 Ubuntu, racism and nation building
2.3 Social Capital
2.3.1 Forms of capital
2.3.2 Social Capital: origins
2.3.3 Conceptualising Social Capital: Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam
2.4 Teambuilding
2.4.1 Defining “team”
2.4.2 Types of teams
2.4.3 Team roles
2.4.4 Teambuilding/group development theories
2.4.5 Critiques of teamwork in the workplace
3. Why choir?
3.1 Eminence of choral singing in South Africa
3.2 Singing: reasons and outcomes
3.3 Choir participation and transformation
3.4 Findings of the 2008 WSI choir survey
4. Absa and the Absa Internal Choir Festival
4.1 Absa Bank: a synopsis
4.2 Origins: a journey of change
4.3 Absa in the South African context
4.4 Absa and the Absa Internal Choir Festival
4.5 Absa and the Absa song
4.6 Absa Internal Choir Festival: passion and commitment
4.7 The DVD
5. Interpreting the data
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Section A: Background information
5.3 Section B: Factors
5.3.1 Factor 1 – Fun (FUN)
5.3.2 Factor 2 – Proudly Absa (PABSA)
5.3.3 Factor 3 – Cultural Diversity (CDIV)
5.3.4 Factor 4 – Teambuilding (TBUILD)
5.3.5 Factor 5 – Improving cross-department collaboration (CDEPT)
5.3.6 Factor 6 – Absa does indeed view its staff as its “most important Asset” (MIMPAS)
5.3.7 Factors 1-6: Summative data
5.4 Section C: qualitative data
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusions
6.2 Recommendations
